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A hologram bracelet or energy bracelet [1] is a small rubber wristband supposedly fitted with a hologram. Manufacturers have said that the holograms supposedly "optimise the natural flow of energy around the body," and, "improve an athlete's strength, balance and flexibility". [2] Only anecdotal evidence supports these claims and tests performed by the Australian Skeptics, [3] the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, [4] and the RMIT's School of Health Sciences [5] have been unable to identify any effect on performance.
Hologram bracelets include a small hologram which manufacturers say is "programmed" through an undisclosed process. [1] [6] [7] Power Balance, who have manufactured the bracelets since 2007, say that the programming "mimics Eastern philosophies". [7] The holograms are most usually installed in bracelets and wristbands but are also sold as pendants or necklaces, anklets, shoe inserts, pet tags, or separately for users to apply to the back of a watch, for example.
Manufacturers including Power Balance and EFX Performance make no claims on their websites for their products, but carry testimonials from users who say that they improve athletic performance. [7] [8] [9] Until 2010, Power Balance said that their bracelets helped improve an athlete's strength, balance and flexibility [2] [10] because the holograms are embedded with an "electrical frequency" that restores the body's "electrical balance" on contact with its natural energy field. [11] In December 2010, following a successful legal action by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, Power Balance admitted that there was no credible scientific evidence for these claims. [10] [12]
Mark Hodgkinson, writing in The Daily Telegraph in 2010, called hologram bracelets a fad [2] with many professional athletes seen wearing them and several actively endorsing them. Footballers David Beckham [2] and Cristiano Ronaldo [3] have worn them, and tennis players Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish both wore them during the final of the 2010 Queen's Club Championships. [2] [3] Endorsements for the Power Balance bracelet have come from Shaquille O'Neal, Rubens Barrichello, [2] and the London Wasps rugby team, [3] while ice hockey team the Cardiff Devils announced a partnership with Power Balance in early 2010. [4] NASCAR reported in 2011 that many drivers wore EFX Performance bracelets with the Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing teams entering into licensing deals. [13]
Several groups have investigated the effects of hologram bracelets on athletic performance. A 2011 study by RMIT University's School of Health Sciences found that there was an overall decrease in the balance and stability of wearers, although it was not statistically significant and the overall conclusion was that the bracelets had no effect on performance. [5] The Australian Skeptics group found that the bracelets has no more than a placebo effect. [3]
Research by the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, commissioned by the BBC, also found that wearing the bracelets had no effect on performance in standard sports industry tests, adding that neither the physiology or the biology of wearers was changed. [4] However, Dr Gareth Irwin who carried out the tests said that there may be changes in performance because of the placebo effect, a view which has been echoed by sports psychologists. [14] Sports psychologist Victor Thompson says the bracelets play on superstition, simply giving people the expectation that they can improve their sporting performance. [3] Cricket coach Jeremy Snape said he prefers that athletes have belief in themselves rather than in an external product, while Roberto Forzoni described the bracelets as "gimmicks" which allow athletes to avoid addressing real issues in their performance, with the high-profile endorsements giving the sense of belonging to an elite group of athletes. [2]
The holographic principle is a property of string theories and a supposed property of quantum gravity that states that the description of a volume of space can be thought of as encoded on a lower-dimensional boundary to the region – such as a light-like boundary like a gravitational horizon. First proposed by Gerard 't Hooft, it was given a precise string theoretic interpretation by Leonard Susskind, who combined his ideas with previous ones of 't Hooft and Charles Thorn. Susskind said, "The three-dimensional world of ordinary experience—the universe filled with galaxies, stars, planets, houses, boulders, and people—is a hologram, an image of reality coded on a distant two-dimensional surface." As pointed out by Raphael Bousso, Thorn observed in 1978, that string theory admits a lower-dimensional description in which gravity emerges from it in what would now be called a holographic way. The prime example of holography is the AdS/CFT correspondence.
Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interferometry. In principle, it is possible to make a hologram for any type of wave.
Magnetic therapy is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice involving the weak static magnetic field produced by a permanent magnet which is placed on the body. It is similar to the alternative medicine practice of electromagnetic therapy, which uses a magnetic field generated by an electrically powered device. Magnet therapy products may include wristbands, jewelry, blankets, and wraps that have magnets incorporated into them.
A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, such as charms. Medical and identity information are marked on some bracelets, such as allergy bracelets, hospital patient-identification tags, and bracelet tags for newborn babies. Bracelets may be worn to signify a certain phenomenon, such as breast cancer awareness, or for religious/cultural purposes.
Dominique Margaux Dawes is a retired American artistic gymnast. Known in the gymnastics community as 'Awesome Dawesome', she was a 10-year member of the U.S. national gymnastics team, the 1994 U.S. all-around senior National Champion, a three-time Olympian, a World Championship silver and bronze medalist, and a member of the gold-medal-winning "Magnificent Seven" team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. She is also the Olympic bronze medalist on floor exercise from the Atlanta games.
Crystal healing is a pseudoscientific alternative-medicine practice that uses semiprecious stones and crystals such as quartz, agate, amethyst or opal. Adherents of the practice claim that these have healing powers, but there is no scientific basis for this claim. Practitioners of crystal healing believe they can boost low energy, prevent bad energy, release blocked energy, and transform a body's aura.
Wristbands are encircling strips worn on the wrist or lower forearm. The term may refer to a bracelet-like band, similar to that of a wristwatch, to the cuff or other part of a sleeve that covers the wrist, or decorative or functional bands worn on the wrist for many different reasons. Wristbands are often worn and used similarly to event passes such as lanyards to information or allow people entry to events. These wristbands are made from loops of plastic that are placed around the wrist and are used for identification purposes.
Most commonly known as CHOICE, the Australian Consumers' Association is an Australian not for profit consumer advocacy organisation. It is an independent membership based organisation founded in 1959 that researches and campaigns on behalf of Australian consumers. It is similar to the Consumers Union in the United States and Which? in the United Kingdom, who are considered sister organisations. It is the largest consumer organisation in Australia.
Gel bracelets are a type of wristband often made from silicone.
Holographic data storage is a potential technology in the area of high-capacity data storage. While magnetic and optical data storage devices rely on individual bits being stored as distinct magnetic or optical changes on the surface of the recording medium, holographic data storage records information throughout the volume of the medium and is capable of recording multiple images in the same area utilizing light at different angles.
Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into patients and effect positive results. The field is defined by shared beliefs and practices relating to mysticism and esotericism in the wider alternative medicine sphere rather than any sort of unified terminology, leading to terms such as energy healing, vibrational medicine, and similar terms being used synonymously. In most cases, no empirically measurable "energy" is involved: the term refers instead to so-called subtle energy. Practitioners may classify their practice as hands-on, hands-off, or distant wherein the patient and healer are in different locations. Many approaches to energy healing exist: for example, “biofield energy healing”, “spiritual healing”, “contact healing”, “distant healing”, therapeutic touch, Reiki, and Qigong.
QT Incorporated is the manufacturer of the Q-Ray ionized bracelet and a line of sports socks. It is headed by the infomercial entrepreneur, Que Te "Andrew" Park. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has found the bracelets are part of a scheme devised to defraud consumers.
Steven Paul Novella is an American clinical neurologist and associate professor at Yale University School of Medicine. Novella is best known for his involvement in the skeptical movement as a host of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast and as the president of the New England Skeptical Society. He is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI).
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1976, WSOP championships are now counted as "bracelets". During the first years of the WSOP, only a handful of bracelets were awarded each year. In 1990, there were only 14 bracelet events. By 2000, that number increased to 24. As the popularity of poker has increased during the 2000s, the number of events has likewise increased. In 2011, 58 bracelets were awarded at the WSOP, seven at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), and one to the WSOP National Circuit Champion. This brought the total number of bracelets awarded up to 959. Five additional bracelets were awarded for the first time in April 2013 at the inaugural World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in Melbourne, Australia. In 2017, 74 bracelets were awarded at the WSOP and an additional 11 will be awarded at the WSOPE in Czech Republic.
An Ionized bracelet, or ionic bracelet, is a type of metal bracelet jewelry purported to affect the chi of the wearer. No claims of effectiveness made by manufacturers have ever been substantiated by independent sources, and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has found the bracelets are "part of a scheme devised to defraud".
The Company Phiten, headquartered in Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan, sells quasi-drugs, cosmetics, hair care products, sports-related products, health foods, and health goods.
Frank R. Kassela is an American professional poker player from Germantown, Tennessee now residing in Las Vegas, who is a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner. He won two bracelets at the 2010 World Series of Poker, first in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship event and second in the $2,500 Razz event. and earned the 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Award. He won his third bracelet at the $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw.
Reminderband Inc. is an American international company that manufactures and sells customized silicone wristbands and bracelets for multiple markets, including healthcare, entertainment/recreation, law enforcement, and more. With its headquarters in Logan, Utah, Reminderband also has a logistics and development center in Hong Kong.
Power Balance is the original brand of hologram bracelets claimed by its manufacturers and vendors to use "holographic technology" to "resonate with and respond to the natural energy field of the body" to increase athletic performance. Numerous independent studies of the device have found it to be no more effective than a placebo for enhancing athletic performance. As a result, in 2010, the Australian distributor, Power Balance Australia Pty. Ltd., was forced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to retract any previous claims.
The Merseyside Skeptics Society (MSS) is a nonprofit organisation that promotes scientific scepticism in Merseyside and the United Kingdom. Founded in 2009, the society has campaigned against the use of homeopathy, challenged the claims of psychics, and hosts regular events in Liverpool, podcasts, and an annual conference in Manchester, QED: Question. Explore. Discover.